Diamond Tiara and Aura stood glaring at each other. Both had an almost matching bruise on their cheeks. Blood seeped from both their lips and Diamond Tiara's nose, while running profusely from the bites on Aura's ear. The pair were separated, standing too far too reach each other. At least not without getting past the drill sergeant who stood between them.

"Today," he called out to the other recruits, "we start on weapons training, starting with swords. Normally, we start with going over basic moves. You would start by walking through the steps, move on to practice dummies, and finally train against each other. In light of recent events --" he raised an eyebrow and glanced between the two mares " -- culminating in this morning, I have decided to make a major change. Today, we start by having Diamond Tiara and Aura give us a demonstration."

Diamond Tiara's eyes went wide as she turned to stare at the drill sergeant, jaw hanging open. She had no experience with actual sword fighting. When she was younger, she had read some fantasy novels and got interested, but her father had never let her take any fencing lessons. They were too dangerous, in no way would benefit her in the future, and did not help her become a well-rounded young lady (although, supposedly ballet and gymnastics did). The closest she had ever come to it was when Pipsqueak and Silver Spoon would get her to play pirates or such.

She looked over at Aura. Did the other mare have any sword fighting experience? The look of surprise and confusion on her face seemed like a good sign the answer was "no."

Their attention was drawn back to the drill sergeant as he held up two swords.

"These," he called out, "are practice swords. They are made of actual metal, help get accustomed to the weight and balance of an actual blade. However, they are dull, so there is no chance of accidentally causing harm to yourself or sparring partners."

He turned and held the swords out.

"Since you two want to fight each other, you are going to do just that. You will fight until: one of you reaches what could be seen as a killing blow, one of you surrenders, you are too worn out, or I just get bored with the whole thing. So, take your weapons and get ready."

A thought suddenly occurred to Diamond Tiara and she narrowed her eyes, grinning at Aura.

"Well, if your sword skill is the same as your wit," she stated, "then I have nothing to worry about."

Aura tilted her head and raised an eyebrow.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Diamond Tiara asked. "All the times we've sparred, not once have you been able to get in a good riposte."

She could almost hear the "ooh" from the crowd.

"I'm not worried," Aura snapped. "You've always talked big, but are shit when it comes to actually doing something yourself." With that, she grabbed one of the swords, holding the handle between her teeth.

Diamond Tiara tried to keep her smile, but felt the tip of her lip twitch with the desire to scowl. The claim had struck deeper than she wanted to admit since it was true. It had always been her quick wit and sharp tongue that she had relied on. There had been times when things were close, but she had never actually gotten into a physical fight before this morning.

What surprised her was that she had enjoyed it. She had enjoyed it a lot.

They both picked up their swords, holding the handles in their mouths.

"Ready?" the drill sergeant asked, receiving a nod in response.

"Begin!"

Snarling, Diamond Tiara and Aura ran at each other. Their eyes narrowed as they got closer, glaring at their opponent. The two leaped into the air as they lunged at each others. Their swords collided with a loud clang.

The impact sent a shock of pain through Diamond Tiara's jaw. The muscles suddenly throbbed and her gums ached.

There was no time to think about it. Diamond Tiara turned around, ears pinned back and head low. She then ran at Aura once again, aiming low. Once she thought she was close enough, she swung, aiming for Aura's legs.

The blade passed under Aura's hooves as she reared up onto her hind legs. With a twist of her body, she came down, swinging her own sword at Diamond Tiara. The dull edge slammed into the shoulder blade with an audible sound, sending the struck pony off-balance.

The impact caused Diamond Tiara to wince in pain as she tried to catch herself from falling. It was fortunate that the blades were dull, or it probably would have cut to the bone. As it was, she was betting that it was going to be sore and leave a nasty bruise.

Once again, Diamond Tiara turned to face Aura. Again, she ran toward the her opponent, head low. This time, she reared up as Aura did, and lunged forward. Tiara's blade slammed into her opponent's chest, knocking Aura backwards. A grunt of pain reached Diamond Tiara's ears, giving her a sense of satisfaction.

The feeling was pushed aside. Rushing forward, Diamond Tiara tried to attack Aura again, to get her before she could regain her balance. Years of experience had left Tiara with an understanding that an advantage should be pushed. Wait too long and not only can a target recover, but possibly even rally to victory. This was not some silly little thing where she could walk away after a devastatingly effective barb. This was an actual fight.

And Diamond Tiara refused to lose.

Aura jumped to the side and twisted, spinning on one hoof to swing her blade. The move barely gave Diamond Tiara enough time to turn, blocking the attack with her own sword. She had not been expecting an attack already. She had thought Aura was still off-balance from before.

It ended up being Aura who did not let up. Again and again, she moved forward, swinging the sword with all her strength. Her eyes were wide as she continued to try and get at Diamond Tiara. Loud snorts of air puffed out of her nose as she continued to push. Every muscle in Aura's body tensed as she put all of her earth pony power into her attacks.

Fear started to build up in Diamond Tiara's heart. There was no time for her to recover and counter. She barely had time to block or parry one attack before another was coming for her. Time and again, she was forced to step back, turning to keep within the circle they were using. Each strike against her blade not only sent another jolt of pain through her, but also wore her down more and more. Sooner or later, Diamond Tiara was going to be to worn out to block again. The idea was made worse by the fact that Aura seemed like a mad mare that was not going to wear out any time soon.

"That's enough," the drill sergeant called out moving toward the pair.

Snarling around the handle of her sword, Aura reared up and came down hard, aiming for Diamond Tiara's head. The attack was so quick and sudden, Diamond Tiara barely had time to block.

There was a sharp crack like thunder as the two swords struck, Aura's blade shattering. She continued to bring the handle and the remnants of her sword down.

The broken end struck Diamond Tiara in the face, slashing across her muzzle and down across her cheek. The skin burned as it was sliced open, making Tiara's eyes water. Blood flowed from the fresh wound, running down her face and dripping into the dirt at her hooves. The sword slipped from her teeth as she let out a hiss of pain.

Eyes wide, and grinning widely, Aura stepped back before lunging forward. She twisted her head, aiming to bring the sharp edge of her sword into Diamond Tiara's shoulder.

Before she could lad the blow, an arm wrapped around Aura's neck. The drill sergeant gave a hard yank, pulling the mad mare off-balance and preventing her from stabbing her opponent. He then slammed Aura down on the ground hard. One of his hooves came down onto her throat, holding her in place but not yet cutting off her air supply. With the other he kicked at the hilt of the sword, knocking it from her mouth and sending it out of reach.

"I said 'enough!'" he shouted, causing Aura to cringe underneath him. Her breathing slowed as she looked up at him, her wide eyes returning to their normal size.

Slowly, the sergeant stepped back, taking his hoof off of Aura's neck.

"You have shown yourself to be a danger to yourself and your fellow guards," he said in a calm, cold voice. "You have stolen from your associates, disobeyed orders, and put others in dangers. Were you permitted to continue, you would have severely injured -- and more than likely killed -- another recruit in what was supposed to be a demonstration. You have been found unfit to serve in Princess Twilight Sparkles royal guard and are hereby dismissed. You have ten minutes to collect your belongings before you are escorted off the premises."

"No," Aura whispered before shouting. "No! You can't do this to me!You can't!"

Turning away from her, the sergeant looked at Diamond Tiara.

"Report to the infirmary," he ordered her. "Get that gash stitched up. Then report for latrine duty."

Diamond Tiara gave a nod and started to walk away. She knew that she should have given a "yes, Drill Sergeant," as they had been told to do since day one, but found she did not trust her voice. Her throat felt dry even as her mouth was wet from the leaking blood, forcing her to swallow it.

This was not something she had ever imagined. Having ponies still be mad at her for when she was a bully was something that Diamond Tiara had expected. Having one hate her so much that they literally wanted to kill her... it made her stomach churn with fear and guilt.

Had she really been that bad?

Diamond Tiara continued walking off the training field and toward the infirmary, her mind turning with the question as she listened to the screams of rage from Aura.

Author's Note

I swear I did not mean for the battle to go this way or to have Aura become so insane. Originally the battle was supposed to go very differently. Then I had planned to keep the battle the same, but change the ending of it as per what The Fiery Joker said would happen. For some reason, when I started writing it, it took a very different and darker turn.